"Monty"
From: Sheila [UK]
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 4:51PM 

Dear Mel,

My ten year old chocolate Labrador Monty was prescribed Previcox on Monday because he had sustained a minor shoulder injury. I mentioned to my vet that I was not familiar with that particular drug and why did he not prescribe PLT's which we had for other dogs in the past. 

The vet said that Previcox was much kinder to the stomach than PLT's but I must say that having owned  Labradors for 40 years I have never had a problem with PLT's.  

On Wednesday night/Thursday morning the dog was vomiting and was very unwell. I took him to my vet who gave him an injection to stop him vomiting I gave back  the rest of the tablets as I was not going to risk giving him any more. My vet said it was not the tablets that had caused the problem and that Monty must have had an existing problem with his kidneys and this is why he had reacted the way he did, this dog has never had any symptoms of kidney disease.

After being home for a couple of hours his condition deteriorated he was just laying flat out and staring like a zombie. I took him back to the vet and he kept him in overnight to put him on a drip.

Next morning I rang to see whether he had improved over night and they told me he was sitting up and had taken some food and that I could collect him at 2 o'clock that afternoon.

When I arrived to collect him the vet was running a cardiogram on him because he was concerned after listening to his heart that the beat was "all over the place" as he put it. When I again voiced my opinion that the drug had caused my boys condition I was then told that he must have had a heart condition.

I have had a dog with a heart condition and know that Monty had no symptoms whatsoever of heart trouble. My vet said that he was probably going to die very soon and it was better for me to take him home to familiar surroundings.

As I write this Monty is still with us  he will not eat but wants to drink vast  amounts of water which  I am rationing  to little and often.

After reading  the e-mails  on your site I do not hold out much hope for my boy but miracles can happen. If Previcox were killing or harming humans this drug would be withdrawn!!

From Sheila [UK]

Against all odds Monty has survived his PREVICOX ordeal. All though back to his normal self,  his heart rhythm is not quite back to normal yet and for that reason he is having to take daily heart medication.

The next step will be reducing the heart drugs to ascertain if the damage to his heart is permanent and whether he can manage without them, if not he will be on medication for the rest of his life.

I do not know whether my nursing regime contributed to Monty surviving if it was it may help others in the same situation.

For the first 24 hours I administered Lectade [hydration therapy]* by syringe into his  mouth hourly and  at the same time  moved his body position, massaging his limbs and talking to him in a very loud voice. I was afraid that if he went in a coma too deeply he would not come out of it.

In the next 24 hours I carried on with the regime but started also to give Complan by syringe. Gradually we noticed an improvement in that he started to  move his eyes around taking notice of our other Labs. 

On the third day Monty was able to get up and go  to the water bowl and would have drunk the whole lot at a time if allowed  but I rationed it to little and often. It took roughly 8 days for Monty to be back to his old self. I changed his food from an extruded to chicken and pasta because of the kidney failure.

Merial [UK] still deny that Previcox was to blame even though the human version of this drug was withdrawn because it was found that it could cause heart attack and stroke.

* Read how to make a rehydration drink -Mel http://www.k911.biz/Petsafety/Dehydration.htm